Inglaterra en Semana Santa

Estamos de vueltaaaaaa!!
La verdad contentos de ver a los amigos y familia de Hannah. Pero con muchas, muchas ganas de ir a España y ver a mi familia y amigos de alli. El 12 de Mayo volamos a Alicante y de ahi a Albacete.
No nos podemos quejar. Estamos de vacaciones hasta que nos volvamos a Asia. Hannah esta aun negociando algunos trabajos de profesora en Hong Kong. Yo como ya dije hasta firme el contrato y empiezo el 15 de Junio, pero volaremos antes para buscar casa y demas. Por cierto estais invitados, quien quiera venir, ya tenemos a Carlitos en Septiembre, ha sido el primero en reservar. Seguramente seran casas de miniatura, lo positivo es que mas calenticos estaremos.
La Semana Santa en Inglaterra es distinta a la de España. Comer, beber y huevos de pascua de chocolate. Creo que hemos recuperado un par de kg. Cuando lleguemos a Albacete vamos a tener que ir a comprar ropa nueva, dos o tres tallas mas..:-/
Estamos quedandonos con los padres de Hannah. Patricia y Graham. Son encantadores, y nos estan cebando...jejeje. La madre de Hannah nos ha dejado su coche por todo el mes. Yo estoy haciendo substituciones. Hay que recuperar pasta porque va a ser caro el empezar en Hong Kong. Tenemos mucha suerte la verdad.
De repente en Inglaterra todo parece limpio, verde, civilizado, tranquilo y...no es lo mismo pero se agradece. Hemos pasado la Semana Santa comiendo y bebiendo como decia antes. Los hermanos de Hannah con los respectivos vinieron y nos juntamos un grupo grande.
Ya no hay mucho mas que contar.
Creo que este es el ultimo blog.
He estado leyendo los posts del blog de Hannah y mios y me parece increible todo lo que hemos hecho. Como decia tenemos suerte de haberlo hecho y somos conscientes ello. Queriamos compartir con la familia y amigos las experiencias y el blog nos ha sido muy util. Espero que quien lo haya leido haya disfrutado, esa era nuestra intencion al compartir todas las anecdotas y fotos. Estamos contentos de estar de vuelta pero no puedo evitar sentir nostalgia de lo que ya ha terminado. Quien sabe. En unos años tal vez repitamos.
Os vere pronto en Leicester y en Albacete. Deseandolo ya!

De vuelta en Tailandia Abril 2011

Teniamos muchas ganas de regresar a casa hasta el punto que cambiamos nuestros billetes de vuelta pagando una sancion y un cambio de tarifa, pero como suele pasar, cuando llegamos a Tailandia nos arrepentimos.
No es que se estuviese mal en Vietnam, simplemente estabamos cansados de viajar y con la confirmacion del trabajo nuevo teniendo que volver en Junio para empezar una nueva aventura en Hong Kong el volver antes y pasar tiempo con la familia y amigos era una idea atractiva.
Volamos a Bangkok desde Ho Chi Minh city. Cuando llegamos nos encontramos con la sorpresa de la celebracion del año nuevo Tailandes. Lo llaman Songkram o algo asi. Es la epoma mas calurosa del año y lo celebran tirandose agua el uno al otro. Literalmente cubos de agua en ocasiones. La mayoria de la gente joven compra pistolas de agua y las calles de Bangkok se vuelven un campo de batalla.
Es super divertido si quieres participar, cuando uno esta haciendo las ultimas compras y te calan de arriba a abajo incluyendo la ropa que acabas de comprar no es tan divertido. Preguntarselo a Hannah que por la razon que sea atraia a las muchedumbres y lo que es peor atraia los cubos de agua.
Hannah tenia mogollon de recados y cosas que comprar, en Mayo es la boda de su hermana y siendo barato como es en Bangkok se ahorraba una pasta comprandolo aqui.
Nos fuimos a pasar los ultimos dias del viaje a Koh PhaNgan, la isla que ya habiamos estado muchas veces donde he trabajado de voluntario en numerosas ocasiones. Es super bonita, hay fiesta, y conocemos gente. Tenia sentido acabar el viaje en un sitio donde nos encontrasemos agusto....y donde no te tirasen cubos de agua al tres por dos.
A parte de los viajes de noche en tren con aire helado mas que acondicionado o sentados a la vuelta porque lo demas estaba reservado todo fue genial. Fue un broche de oro para el final del viaje.
Hannah se volvio a Bangkok a hacer los recados y yo me quede con James y compañia por unos dias mas. Una noche cuando estaba solo me fui a la playa donde esta toda la fiesta un par de noches antes de la famosa fiesta de la luna llena. Ya habia mogollon de gente, muy animado pero no las 20 mil personas que se juntan en la luna llena. Estaba sentado y un grupo al lado me invito a juntarme. Un irlandes, una sueca y un par de americanos de LA. Muy majos. Yo estaba con muchas ganas de fiesta pero empezamos a mezclar cubiletes de ron local con cola y red bull y acabe desapareciendo de lo malo que me puse. No el final o broche deo oro de la noche que me hubiese gustado, pero aprendi la leccion. Nunca mezcleis botellas que no sabeis ni lo que pone.
El resto nada del otro mundo, Bangkok, mas compras, maletas y vuelos.
De vuelta a la vida real.

Vietnam

We arrived into Saigon very late at night and went with a Dutch couple in a taxi to the backpacker area. They'd booked a place and a sleepy guy opened the door to them - but wouldn't let us in. It's a labyrinth of alleys full of private 3-4 storey houses, but all with rooms to rent. We rang the bell of another place and a guy came out in his boxers and showed us inside. Then, he went into a room at the back and got his wife out of bed (well, Angel said they were sleeping on towels on top of the bed.. but still) and gave us the room! I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea, but he insisted and we didn't have many other options. The room was like 5 star luxury with ensuite, wifi, tv and even a fridge. Nice, but we moved to a cheaper one the next day.

The first few days in Vietnam were a constant surprise. I had visions of paddy fields and murky rivers, but what we found was that everywhere was really developed; even more so than Thailand, which was very surprising. First we went to Ho Chi Minh, which the locals still call Saigon. The street food was great. The Pho Bo (Beef noodle soup (very typical) was really tasty and so was spring roll with noodles! There's also barbequed pork everywhere and lots of stews with rice. They always serve it with a bowl of soup and iced or hot tea.

We also even did a bit of shopping. The small Vietnamese designer labels are really original and great quality.

The buses are also amazing. They have wifi everywhere and they give you free bottled water and wet towels. All the seats have neck pillows and the waiting areas have fridges full of free fresh sliced fruit and free coffee. The coffee here is also smooth and chocolatey, but soooooo strong. It's literally like have five espressos in one glass. I don't know how they don't start twitching after all that caffeine! For some reason, these buses are also cheaper than the cramped crappy minibuses (which I'm wedged into as I write). Other one was fully booked! These can be much more entertaining - but not for 7+ hours as I think we'll end up being on this one for!


After a couple of days in Saigon, we decided to head to Mui Ne, to quote the Lonely Planet SE Asia 2004 'a charming but undeveloped fishing village'. Well, that's the last time I travel with an old edition! Mui Ne turned out to be the key destination for Russian tourists: 7km of huge hotels and restaurants! Even the beach was so windy that it was like having a particularly vigorous exfoliation every time you stepped onto it. It was great for kite-surfers though! Angel really wants to learn how to do it - maybe in Hong Kong.

The next place we went was Dalat, a place in the hills to see if we could find somewhere a bit more rural. It was a bit - we hired a moped
(which I learned to ride in a carpark in Dalat!) and spent the day riding around, but even the Minority villagers seemed to be having a day off from their cloth- weaving and traditional costume.

It wasn't until we went back to Saigon and met a local guy who spoke excellent English (and man, absolutely nobody speaks any English whatsoever in Vietnam - and fair enough, why should they? But not even the basics like the word 'hotel'! Even in tourist areas they don't know any numbers at all. It certainly makes you realise how much you take communication for granted!)
Anyway this very helpful chap recommended a couple of rural undeveloped villages to us, so we set out again a few days later.

Finally we found rural Vietnam! Back in Saigon now - baring the thousands of motorbikes which come at you everytime you try and cross the road. had a bit of a disastrous haircut on my birthday but I suppose it serves me right for trying to get a haircut for two dollars! Went out that night with a French Canadian couple and an Aussie guy who had planned a birthday dinner for me at a local Barbeque restaurant and a few beers afterwards! Heading excitedly to Thailand now - after changing our plane tickets again! We're going home a month early - miss everyone back home too much and only 6 weeks there before we head back out to Hong Kong to find a somewhere to live. Bring on Thailand!

Vietnam

Después de la agradable sorpresa de Filipinas hemos llegado a Vietnam otro país nuevo para nosotros al que teníamos muchas ganas de venir.
Ya estamos un poco cansados de tanto viaje. Es una experiencia increíble pero llega un momento que tal vez no se aprecia tanto y cansa el estar en buses y de hotel a hotel con la mochila a cuestas.
Aterrizamos en Ho Chi Minh City, la antigua capital de Vietnam del sur (antes llamada Saigon) y la ciudad mas grande del país.
Saigon es bastante grande pero el centro se puede recorrer andando. Hay bastantes iglesias, debe ser por ser una excolonia francesa. También tienen bocadillos de pâté y fiambre que están riquísimos, especialmente después de casi 7 meses sin probar el pan.
Estuvimos en el museo de la guerra que es bastante fuerte. Lo enfocan hacia como los americanos abusaron de poder y torturaron y mataron tantos inocentes. Probando el gas naranja y otras drogas químicas que destrozaron no solo los soldados sino también los civiles inocentes y generaciones posteriores.
Vietnam es bastante desarrollado para lo que es el resto de Indochina.
No hemos viajado muy lejos porque como decía estamos cansados. Fuimos a Mui Ne. Una playa al norte que se ha vuelto súper turística. El pueblo es súper chulo, de pescadores muy rural y autentico. El resto es como Benidorm, luces, todo en ingles y en ruso, que por cierto hay mogollón de rusos viajando. Los distinguimos fácilmente porque son los que llevan bandanas amarillas con camisetas rosas y zapatillas verde fosforito. Su moda es como hace 10 años.
Visitamos los alrededores alquilando una motillo. Cañones de arena y arcilla, dunas de distintos colores por la mezcla de arenas. Nada del otro mundo la verdad.
De ahí fuimos a Dalat, en la montaña. Es el único sitio en el que hemos necesitado manga larga. Bastante fresco en la noche. Es un sitio turístico vietnamita y esta todo impecable. Los parques, lagos y fuentes. Todo tipo de casetas con comida local. A la noche venden leche de soja dulce de sabores, chocolate, vainilla o leche con magdalenas, bizcochos y otros dulces que están de muerte. Lo de los pasteles es también influencia francesa.
En Ho Chi Minh City me invitaron de extra en un anuncio. Ya van dos, el primero en India. En este salía al lado de una modelo rusa anunciando Lipton Tea. Como es Nestea.
Ahora estamos en el Sur. Delta de rio Mekong. Súper bonito, rural, llanuras verdes con arrozales y canales con barcos por todos lado. Mercadillos flotantes, fabricas de arroz, miel...etc. Una pasada, sin duda mi parte favorita en Vietnam. En un par de días volamos a Tailandia. Ultima parada antes de volver.

Filipinas. Negros y Cebu

Siento haber tardado tanto en escribir el blog. La verdad con los rollos de busqueda de trabajo...etc no he estado muy relajado últimamente. Podría ser peor la verdad. Hemos pasado 3 semanas en Filipinas, el tiempo que dan de visado cuando uno llega. Como hay tantas islas era difícil decidir a donde ir. Gente nos dijo ir allí, otra gente, ir allá. Al final decidimos dividir las dos semanas entre las islas de Negros y Cebu. Una pareja alemana nos dio mogollón de información de donde ir, que ver y demás en ambas islas. Así que llegamos de la ultramoderna Hong Kong a la relajada Filipinas. Del aeropuerto de Negros, que no es mas grande que el de Albacete, fuimos a pillar el bus en un triciclo. Es el taxi local, le ponen un sidecar rudimentario todo tuneao a una especie de vespino o moto rusa/china tipo rieju y ya tienes un taxi. La gente se monta a mitad de camino y cuando te das cuenta tienes la mitad del pueblo en esta especie de híbrido. Por supuesto cuando digo gente, incluyo bolsas de compra, maletas, pollos y hasta gorrinos atados donde se pueda. Empezamos en Sipalay playa. Muy bonita. Aquí el mar es super azul claro con rocas, pequeños montículos todo verdes sobresaliendo del agua que hacen el paisaje incluso more escénico. En Sipalay conocimos un pescador con su familia y le convencimos para que nos añadieran a las cenas familiares, por supuesto pagandoles, aceptaron alegremente y aprendimos mogollón de ellos, que majos que eran. La mayoría de los hoteles turísticos clavan por la comida el triple de lo que cuesta en un restaurante local y no esta tan bueno. Un día en el pueblo le pregunte a un tricitaxista si había gente que alquilase habitaciones de su casa y sin mas el ofreció su casa. Fue una experiencia muy guapa. Nos dieron una habitación con un ventilador para ahuyentar los mosquitos, porque no tenían mosquitera, y pasamos las noches bebiendo ron y comiendo pescado a la parrilla que es la tapa que acompaña la bebida, al menos en su casa...mmmmm, estaba riquísimo, y no me refiero a ron solo!! ;-) Fuimos aun par de sitios mas que no necesitan que me extienda mucho. Lo único relevante que ocurrió fue la desgraciada noticia del Tsunami de Japon con avisos de evacuación de sitios costeros en Filipinas. Estábamos Hannah y yo comiendonos un pollo asado, que son muy comunes aquí, cuando nos llamó la madre de Hannah bastante exaltada contandonos lo que había pasado. Nos acojono con razón. Nos dejamos medio pollo y casi me atraganto con los huesecillos. Creo que conforme nos decía las noticias yo masticaba sin pensar que estaba comiendo. Al final no paso nada. Nos aseguramos que no estábamos en peligro antes de volver a nuestra cabaña a 3 metros de la orilla de la playa. Esa noche nos bebimos 2 litros de San Miguel filipina sentados en la playa pensando que afortunados éramos imaginando lo mal que podriamos estar y lamentando la desgracia de Japon. Para terminar fuimos a la isla de Cebu, el clima estaba revuelto después del terremoto y tsunami de Japon. Estuvimos snorkelling y turisteando, que a pesar de la intermitente lluvia estuvo genial. Filipinas es muy famosa por el buceo. Para poner el broche de oro, terminamos en la islita de Malapascua. Una pasada, el color de la arena, del agua...te hipnotiza. Blanco y azul intenso. Hicimos mas snorkelling y pasamos unos días geniales conociendo gente local. En Filipinas las peleas de gallos son el equivalente al fútbol. To dios va y apuesta o tiene gallos que cría para ese propósito. Hemos estado en varias. La ultima fue con el dueño del ultimo hostal donde nos quedamos que gano y nos invito a cenar el pollo perdedor que lo trae el perdedor para comerlo todos juntos como es costumbre. Claro, bañado con bastante ron como también es costumbre. ;-) Otra cosa que se me olvidaba es que la lengua local es muy parecida al español. Al ser una excolonia descubierta por Magallanes la comida, la lengua, la religión, todo esta influenciado por los españoles. Ósea que cuando te dicen el precio despues de comerte un puchero, arroz caldoso o un cerdo en adobo suena algo así como, siento sinquenta y sinco peisos. Vamos para Vietnam. He oído que la comida vietnamita es alucinante!!!

The Philippines

Wow, here we are in The Philippines. I was freezing in Hong Kong (-well, it was about 15 degrees at night,) and even colder on the plane. It was a low-cost company, so no blankets I'm afraid madam.. I was wrapped in a big beach sarong and still cold, but when we stepped off the plane....hot hot hot! Mmmmmm!!!- I love that.. when the heat warms you to the bone instantly! Delicious!

It's not just the weather which is warm; the people are also very warm-hearted and friendly here.  It's like a curious mix between South America and South East Asia! In fact, as it used to be a Spanish colony, the Philipino language has alot of Spanish words and the food is also similar to Spanish dishes like Adobo and Puchero. When you ask anyone for directions, they tend you look at you as if they don't have a clue what you're talking about, and then suddenly launch into almost perfect English with a heavy American accent. (- It was also an American colony.)

The Philippines is an archepalaego (I love that word) of more than 7000 islands.  It's almost all Catholic apart from a Muslim minority and some indigenous tribes.

When we arrived, we took another flight to the capital of Negros Island, Dumaguete, then we found our way to the bus station, had some really good local food - Adobo and rice - like a Spanish stew with pork, garlic, onion and potato.  ...And all pleased with ourselves at finding great value delicious food and not another foreigner in site, we plonked down on the first local bus we saw to Sipalay. It wasn't until after 20 minutes or so that we asked the ticket collector how long the journey would take and he said 5 hours! It was literally stopping every 5 minutes to pick up and drop off- and then, about 3 hours in when we stopped, the conductor told us we would be having a 1.40 minute break! We decided to go and use the Internet as I had to send an application. When we got back, the bus was jam packed! People were even standing all squashed in. We went back to our seat and there was a woman with her 6 or 7 year old son on our seat and a man next to him, sitting on top of our stuff. Angel politely ejected him from our seat and we squashed on, but the man started falling asleep standing - curling around the pole and Angel took pity on him and stood up. Angel was actually happy about standing because he felt like a giant compared with all the Philipinos! It was Ok until the same man then started falling asleep on me!A bit longer into the trip, which was already 5 hours and nowhere near over, the kid next to me started puking.. Great! Then the kid behind me also started puking! Even better! And then.. I realized that there were live chickens under my seat (of course there were - how could there not be on this bus journey?) and it seemed like they'd just woken up and wanted to get off.

We finally arrived in Sipalay and took a tricycle (- which is what they call a motorbike with kind of a metal frame sidecar attached) to Sugar Beach. We've only got 3 weeks on the visa and apparently there's far too much to see in only 3 weeks, so we'll probably just visit 3 or 4 places this time.  A middle-aged German couple we met on Ko Chang (really sweet and funny when they were trying to remember places to tell us, they kept making high-pitched exclamations and then whispering excitedly to each other in English, like they were in a library and didn't want to disturb people! Ha ha.. )Anyway, they were the ones who recommended Sipalay in Negros to us, and Sulu Sunset Resort on Sugar Beach in particular.This place is run by one German bloke and about 12 Philipino girls... A bit dubious considering there is more prostitution here than in Thailand.. But the girls are very sweet and go everywhere smiling and singing (Everybody sings here constantly.) In the morning it's like being on the set of Annie, the musical, as they all do the cleaning, washing, brushing etc. while singing in American accents at the tops of their voices in that kind of nasal Annie-esque way.  They don't seem to be trapped in some dark underworld - even when warbling along to 'Please release me...'.

Angel was playing volleyball with them and another bloke today and some of them wanted him to go on the opposite team, so they could get a better look at him! They even all screamed groupie-stylee when he took his t.shirt off! Ha ha.. I think he was feeling all smug - and tall coz they have the net positioned really low as they're all about 5 ft. He was jumping up and smashing the ball down over the net like Gulliver playing with the Lilliputians!;)

One bad thing about the resorts here is that the food is really overpriced. It's about 4 times as much as the same thing in the town and not even as good. We've taken to persuading the local fisherman's wife at the end of the beach to cook for us. She makes really nice food and charges us local prices -and even teaches us a bit of Philipino thrown in.

Considering I've never been much of an animal person, I've done my fair share of saving the little creatures on this trip - with dog day in Sikkim and Apu in Kerala.. and now... We were having dinner at the house of the fisherman on the beach and as well as 5 dogs, they've also got a piglet sniffing around. The poor thing doesn't stop rubbing its back up against trees and rocks. I convinced Angel to give it something, so the next day we went back with some medicine to kill the mites, stop the itching and reduce the inflammation. We put it into a bit of rice and fed it to him. Ten minutes later it was asleep.. Oops, hope we didn't give him an overdose!  We didn't tell the woman what we'd done just in case!

After four nights of guiltily sneaking off to the other end of the beach for dinner and rum instead of spending money in our resort, we've decided to move to the town. I needed to use the internet anyway.- I spent literally three hours writing a cover letter the other day in town and just after I'd finally completed it, the computers all shut down. It wasn't until they started again that I realised that they have a desktop wiping programme and the finished letter was wiped. So p***ed off! So I'm going to go back today and tomorrow and try again.

We asked the tricycle riders if there were any homestays around, and one of them immediately said 'you can stay at my house!'. He's a young jolly guy called Noy and he lives with his very quiet (about 15 year old) wife and child and his schoolgirl sister in law.

We spent last night with our new family. They are really sweet. The wife is actually 24, and not 15 and waits on her husband hand and foot. So glad I'm not Philippino! All the women were really shocked this morning when Angel came outside with a big tub of our washing that he'd just finished handwashing and started hanging it on the line... They must think I've got him very well trained!

Noy took us to see his flighting cocks today. Negros is famous nation-wide for the cocks (or should I say roosters) they produce! He showed us a species of cockerill which looks like a hen. Apparently they win alot of fights because they confuse the more masculine-looking cocks into thinking they're going to mate instead of fight! Noy has a gay friend who has a pink house and a pink car and owns alot of these kind of fighters. They are all really into their cock fighting and gambling here, but it seems to be a men only sport - the same goes for drinking alcohol. We sat around watching Spartacus and drinking rum last night. The women just watched...

On the bus, we made a snap decision to go to Maya - the jumping off point for Malapascua Island. We arrived off the bus finally into a little town with one place to stay 'Abba Lodge' ...what can I say except it wasn't superdupa, no dancing queens etc etc. In fact, the guy wanted 500 pisos for a dingy twin room with no bathroom. We didn't even bother trying to negotiate, but his granddaughter persuaded him to accept us for 400. It was still far too much for the type of room so we went looking around with our rucksacks in the dark. It was at this point that we realised that literally everyone around the town was drunk - even the police on duty with their lethal weapons hanging off their waist bands. One old (drunk) guy told us we could sleep in a hall for free but that there were no beds. We went to have a look anyway, and though there were some sturdy-looking tables, without any kind if matress, we didn't think we didn't think we'd sleep much and anyway, he quickly changed his mind for some reason - we must look like unsavoury characters, though he was the one who stank like a brewery. We went round the village and came across a big party of people in the street drinking beer by the crate. They offered us some Balut which is boiled egg with a twist - the twist being that the chick is almost fully formed inside! They make a little hole in the top if the egg, suck the 'juices' out and then peel the egg and crunch the rest. Noi, who we stayed with in Sipalay said his little daughter loves them. Funny how in some cultures, kids think baby animals are cute and in others they eat them as snacks! We had to crawl back to the Abba Lodge in the end and take his room. After that we thought that if you can't beat them, join them, and bought a litre of beer. We arrived on Malapascua the next morning after a really rough boat ride. Since the tsunami in Japan, the weather's been pretty bad here. It rains every day and the sea's been alot rougher than usual and it's not even rainy season. In fairness though we've been really lucky with the weather on the trip as a whole - so we can't complain.We found a nice room in the village on the middle of the island but still only a couple of minutes wall from the beach. The owner, Rex (like almost everybody in the Philipinnes) breeds fighting cocks.We were invited to the weekly cock fighting extravaganza. We stayed to see Rex's birds win and then escaped. Later on, Rex invited us to dinner with a his nephew, a friend, and, as is traditional, the owner of the cock that lost, which we would be eating for dinner. The weather had been terrible since the tsunami hit Japan. It had uncharctacteristically been raining every day all around Asia. When it finally cleared up, Malapascua was like a completely different place. The sea was suddenly turquoise and clear and the beaches were bright and white. We were so glad to see the difference and it really made us want to come back here and bring friends and family who cone to visit us in Asia later. It's only a very quick cheap flight away from HK.

Hong Kong

We arrived in HK and were blown away by the high 'tech-ness' of the place. We'd both been here before but for me it was 9 or 10 years ago and the sheer height of the buildings and the number of skyscrapers never fails to surprise you.

There are moving screens everywhere - like Picadilly Circus X 100. The shopping areas are comparable to any city centre in the west but there are probably more than in any city I've ever been to. Every street seems to have a mall - if not 5 or 6!

I think they say that any street in Hong Kong at 3am on a normal day is as busy as London Oxford St on Christmas Eve..  well I wouldn't say any street but it certainly is busy at night and the shops open late every night. Life gets going after 6pm - like New York in Asia - and nothing like back home! Our neighbours in our little 18th Century street in Melbourne, Derbyshire - where we spent a year in a cottage told us that it couldn't be more different moving to HK and I think they were right.

We'd booked a cheap and cheerful guesthouse in Kowloon - one of the main parts of one of the islands. It was certainly cheerful and clean, but my god, you couldn't swing a cat anywhere. I was expecting it to be small but you almost had to stand on the bed to get changed- and the shower was actually positioned over the toilet! Not my cup of tea - I get very claustrophobic- especially on the 15th floor with bars on the windows.

We're planning to move to HK, and these few days were for interviews and to start thinking about where we'd live etc. I really started to panic that we'd have to live in a shoe box..However, we went to have dinner with the mum of a good friend of ours, who's been there for years and her place was great! I wouldn't say it was palatial, but she could certainly swing a few cats and her guest room even had an en-suite! She lived out on one of the islands; a tropical paradise called Lamma Island. You arrive into a fishing harbour and the houses are all 1-3 storeys. There're really nice beaches and no roads at all. You walk everywhere along small paths or walkways. There were even pubs and seafood restaurants everywhere full of both Chinese and expats. I loved it and really wanted to live there, but another night we went out with a girl called Shevaun, (another vet who Angel met a few years ago doing charity in Thailand,) who changed our minds!

She's Irish and after taking us for an Indian and a few beers (despite the fact that we hadn't been able to even look at Indian food after 5 months in India!), we went to the shop and bought some more beers and went out to the harbour seafront. It was really windy that night, and I had been making do with a tshirt and a thin scarf all week even though it was still winter in HK and the locals were wearing winter coats and boots. I told myself I was a tough Brit  - but it was more to do with the fact that I'd left my goose down jacket and my hoodie in storage in Bangkok with a load of other stuff that I (wrongly) thought I wouldn't need for the rest of the trip! While getting very merry, shevaun told us all about life in HK and her amazing social life. She convinced us that if we lived out on Lamma, we'd have to get the last boat back at 11.30 every night, when our night out would just be getting started.  She lives in New Territories, which is the vast jungly countryside area in the North. It's still on the metro line and it's only 20 mins in a taxi from HK Island for her. It's cheap, much bigger accommodation and quiet and peaceful, but you can still be in the centre of the city in 20 mins.

One thing that I wasn't entirely convinced about was the food.  I've never been such a fan of Chinese food but the menus with things like pig's blood jelly, tongue, chicken's feet or trotter soup may have lost something in the translation. Everything seemed to have offal and even if it didn't, it comes in a gloopy gravy without any of the layers of fresh flavours that Thai food has. I do love dim sum (Chinese dumplings) though, which is usually a breakfast or lunch dish served with jasmine tea.. Mmmmmmm! I suppose we'll be able to cook alot and we'll find out where the best places to eat are after a while.

Angel ended up having 5 interviews in 4 days and I was able find the main shopping areas(!) and to explore a bit.  We still don't know where we'll live or where we'll be working, but we have quite a few options. Angel has been offered 4 out of the 5 jobs so far (jammy git), so now he's trying to decide between them. It looks like he'll be starting in June, which won't give us long back home before we have to come back again. We're thinking about finishing the trip a bit earlier, so we can both go to Spain for a while as well as back home for Martha and Nat's wedding and to meet up with friends.

We're looking forward to getting a base in HK but being able to travel round Asia at weekends and during time off - who knows..maybe snowboarding in Korea, city-breaks to Tokyo, visiting mainland China and even direct flights to Samui and then a quick ferry to Ko Pa Ngan for full moon! The best thing is that the budget airlines have flights for £30-50! I've also never been to Australia or New Zealand, so definitely want to spend some longer hols there too.. and I'm sure my nieces'll be pleased to learn that there's even a Disneyland in Hong Kong! Supposedly the money is also really good here. The best thing is that even teaching English I could earn more than Angel! Woohoooo! Well, we'll see... now I have to concentrate on applying for jobs before I start counting my chickens!! Next stop The Philippines....

Hong Kong

Hemos estado antes en Hong Kong, pero me ha sorprendido igual que me sorprendio cuando vine la primera vez en el 2004 o asi. Es una ciudad que nunca para, es una especie de Nueva York en Asia, super moderna con rascacielos y  luces de neon en todos los edificios y calles, centros comerciales super pijos, tiendas independientes que venden todo tipo de ropa, comida y lo que uno imagine. Me gusta que a partir de las 7-8 de la tarde las calles se animan casi que mas que durante el dia, cualquier dia de la semana uno puede salir a comer, cenar, comprar, beber o lo que sea a la hora que uno quiera. La oferta cultural es alucinante, musica, cine, teatro...etc.
Viniendo de la India y Tailandia nos parecio caro, pero comparado con Inglaterra o Espana no lo es tanto. No se si lo veo asi o me quiero convencer porque es casi seguro que en Junio nos volveremos para trabajar y quedarnos a vivir aqui por un tiempo.
Vinimos de hecho a hacer entrevistas, yo tuve cinco y no fueron mal, Hannah se dedico a conseguir informacion para encontar un buen trabajo como profesora de ingles que en teoria hay bastante demanda y se paga bien.
La comida no nos encanto tanto, me gusta la comida china de vez en cuando, pero no todos los dias, hay muchos restaurantes donde lo que mas abunda son tripas, orejas, pezunhas,patas de pollo o pato...etc. Mmmmhhh, creo que no!!
Fuimos a visitar a Frances, la madre de Francesca y suegra de Rafa (Mordi), una senhora simpatiquisima escocesa que vive en HK desde hace muchos anhos. Es profesora de ingles y nos ayudo mogollon en tema de busqueda de vivienda y a Hannah para tramitar la busqueda de curro. Vive en una casita en la isla de Lamma. Una isla que no tiene carreteras, coches o motos, solo caminos peatonales. Es muy tranquila, llena de extranjeros(antiguamente donde los extranjeros hippies se asentaron a vivir) que viven en HK y por supuesto gente local, restaurantes occidentales y chinos. Muy buen ambiente y bonita. Las casas son bajas por ley y parecen mas grandes que lo que parecen en la isla de Hong Kong. Donde nos quedamos en Kowloon, la habitacion era diminuta, no cabiamos los dos a la vez. Eso no nos gusto, la idea de pensar que tendriamos que vivir asi...!! Pero Frances, nos abrio los ojos a nuevas posibilidades. Antes de marcharnos nos juntamos con Shevaun, una veterinaria irlandesa que lleva aqui 10 anhos y la conoci en Tailandia hace 8 o asi trabajando en una ONG que dirigia ella en su tiempo libre y vacaciones. Fuimos a cenar a un Indio, no que teniamos muchas ganas despues de 5 meses casi en la India, pero era mejor que patas de pollo o sopa con tripas de cerdo. Despues de cenar nos pillamos unas cerves y nos fuimos al paseo en frente de la bahia. Las vistas son impresionantes, un sitio magico. Shevaun tambien nos ayudo dandonos mogollon de consejos acerca del trabajo y de donde vivir. Ella vive en los Nuevos Territorios, una zona grande y mas verde hacia las afueras donde se puede conseguir algo mas asequible, tranquilo y bonito.  La noche en Hong Kong es alucinante segun ella, mogollon de sitios para salir, por ejemplo esa noche se iba a una degustacion de whisky en un club muy chulo, despues se iba a seguir de fiesta si aguantaba los 10-15 whiskies que le esperaban.. Y en plan mas campestres los nuevos territorios donde ella vive estan llenos de rutas de trekking, osea que estamos bien servidos.
Total, que nos ha gustado mucho, mis entrevistas han ido bien y lo mas seguro es que para Junio o Julio estemos viviendo aqui en Hong Kong. Empezar a mirar billetes y animaros, ya sabeis donde teneis cama, aunque sea en los 1.5 m2 de un salon diminuto.

Bangkok again...

Back in the capital. People say you either love or hate Bangkok, but personally I can't see what's to dislike. It's tropical, modern and clean with superclubs, bright lights, gadgets and skytrains that make London look old fashioned and yet you can still have amazing street food anywhere or shop till you drop without breaking the bank.. Love it!

Only 2 days here this time but we'll be back in May. Arrived from Surat Thani by night train and though it was delayed two hours, it was still super-luxurious compared to India AND you get a really comfy matress with clean White sheets and pillowcase and a sealed plastic bag with a huge comfy towel-cum-blanket in it. As you can tell, I was really excited about it - but if you've ever spent 5 months on Indian trains, you'll know what I'm talking about!

We found a sparkling clean white hotel for 7 quid a night- which is alot more than we usually have to fork out for accommodation, (but it WAS sparkling), and then we got to work on our shopping expedition. Angel needed a whole new outfit for interviews in Hong Kong and I really needed a new pair of jeans and a new hairdo!;) I'm now a brunette - till it washes out anyway- not brave enough to go permanent.. actually I'm already missing my blonde- is it true that blondes have more fun?

Martha (my sis) & Nat are getting married in May and it's kind of a steam punk- vintage carnivale theme so I'm also trying to find a design that maybe I can get copied here, but it's not going to be easy - not sure many Bangkok tailors specialise in Victorian bustle skirts! It's easy for blokes - just grow some creative facial hair and stick on a butterfly collar and Bob (Cratchett)'s your uncle!;)

I'm now stuck on a bus in a traffic jam, on my way to the famous Chatuchak weekend market to see if I can find some decorations for the wedding.

Koh Pa Ngan

We'd stayed an extra night on Ko Tao just to make well and truly sure that the Full Moon revellers would be starting to leave some accommodation on Ko Pa Ngan for the rest of us. And getting off the boat we were greeted by literally hundreds if not thousands of groups of girlies and lads - some even still covered in fluorescent paint, all leaving in a mass exodus.

We made our way to Haad Khom beach which James, a friend of Angel's who lives on the island, suggested. He said it was quieter than other places and with a really nice beach - but still accessible by bike. Unfortunately though, we asked in every single place and they were all full. Next we tried Chaloklum, but same story so we came to Haad Salat and three hours later, we finally got a woman whose huts were full till the next day but she sorted us out with an old toothless guy whose one room was half way up a mountain -typical!

Angel spent the next couple of days working while I moved our stuff over to the new place and got comfy for some serious Angel-less peace and quiet in my hammock with my book. Actually having said that, we've spent 24 hours a day together for about the last 5 months and not killed each other yet- nor, more importantly wanted to, so it's not too bad! Ha ha.

We went round to see James when we arrived.  Angel first met him when they worked together ten years ago here at the animal hospital. We met his five dogs, all of which he'd rescued from death. One was blind, one had three legs and there were a couple which Angel recognised from the animal hospital when he was here four years ago - just after he met me.

We went out the next night with James and his 'hot date', a British Chinese girl  he'd met doing his scuba diving instruction. James, took us to his favourite karaoke restaurant, and then afterwards to an anniversary party at another restaurant owned by western women. The bonus was that the food was free and it was all stuff like baguettes and pate, which we hadn't had for aaaages. So we met some of the ex pats on the island.  It wasn't a really late night though as the next morning Angel had to do an amputation and a spay on a golden retriever which was heavily pregnant with 7 puppies.  Poor dog! All the dogs there seem to be missing something - even skin! Gross! And three of the girls who volunteer there have caught ring worm. Georgina, the admin girl even has it on her mouth from kissing the puppies! It could be worse though, apparently this morning a king cobra came out of the long grass to try and get a bite of the action!;)

The next night we went out with all the people from the hospital - PAC (Pangan Animal Clinic), which is a charity run mostly by volunteers. It ended up being Angel and one more bloke and then about ten hot chicks - which I'm sure the boys didn't mind too much about! Actually the girls really welcomed us - especially Por the Thai nurse and Stacey, an American vet, who both came to see us off at the pier when we left - very sweet!

After dinner, they took us to a bar called Bangers and Mash where we all proceeded to get a bit mashed!

The next day Angel wasn't working - and he was all happy about that even after not working for months(!) so we went for lunch - Somtam and Kaow meow - spicy papaya salad and sticky rice ..mmmm sooooo good!

That night James invited us go with him to a friend's leaving do in another bar with free food! James works freelance for different dive schools and I told him that he fits the stereotype of the buff muscley slightly older guy who charms all the young girls in his dive groups!;)

We met lots of ex pat divers, and as the Irish say, had a bit of craic. There was an slightly geeky looking American air force pilot I was talking to who really cracked me up - telling me about how he innocently sent a parcel of alcohol (with return address) to a mate in Afganistan..he didn't realise that it was illegal till he got arrested and chucked in 'jail'. He got to know his tough fellow inmates pretty well though (all of whom started calling him whitey as he was the only White guy). Hilarious.

Actually one of the ex pats we met was a Japanese woman with hair down to her knees called Mina. Later on, Angel was telling James how she seemed familiar and that he'd once met a Japanese girl in Sri Lanka called Mina about 10 years ago, who was travelling with her little baby. It took Angel 4 beers and about 2 hours for the penny to drop that it was the same girl! Small world!

We're now on the ferry heading to Surat Thani and then we'll get the night train to Bangkok, so we'll have two days before flying to Hong Kong. Definitely time for a bit of shopping and more delicious street food!

Koh Tao y Koh PhaNgan

Aun alucinando con la belleza natural de Tailandia y sus Islas.
Aunque pienso que ha cambiando mucho desde la primera vez que estuve aqui con Ricardo Zafrilla me sigue encantando.
Koh Tao es una islita pequeña pero bastante turistica. Es famosa por el buceo. Cruzamos de una isla en el Oeste a una del Este. El viaje en barco a Koh Tao fue en un carguero con unas cuantas literas bastante comodas y limpiaa y ni un turista. Todos Los extranjeros compran los billetes en agencias y los meten juntos como ovejas donde reciben mas comision.
Viajamos de noche durmiendo, Hannah durmio como un tronco con su mascara y tapones en los oidos y se desperto justo cuando estabamos llegando.
No estuvimos mucho en Koh Tao, solo unos 4 dias pero los disfrutamos a tope. No hicimos nada de buceo, pillamos una moto y gafas de buceo y nos recorrimos la isla parando en todas las calas para hacer snorkelling, como buceo barato sin botellas de oxigeno en la superficie del agua en vez de abajo. Es impresionante cuanta vida hay en solo unos metros dentro del agua. Con la habitacion siempre tenemos suerte. Pillamos un bungalow enorme, con vistas impresionantes de la bahia. Tanote Bay, si lo mirais en Google vereis a lo que me refiero. Como siempre hamaca colgada fuera del bungalow que es ideal para la cerve de la puesta de sol.
Koh PaNgan es mas grande y super turistica. Cuando llegamos habia literalmente miles de turistas regresando que habian venido para la Full Moon party, fiesta de la Luna llena. Es como una Ibiza en Asia. Tias con poca ropa, bikinis y fiestas por todo lado. Que mal eh? ;-) La pena es que las playas que eran mas bonitas ya no lo son. Es por tanta gente y tanta construccion etc.
Nos fuimos al Norte de la Isla, como siempre en nuestra moto alquilada y buscamos playas mas bonitas y tranquilas. Siempre puede uno pillar la moto y plantarse en la zona de fiesta en 15 minutos.
La razon de venir a PaNgan era trabajar en una ONG que ya trabaje hace años. Estuvo guay porque salimos con los otros voluntarios y gente que vive y curra aqui que hacia años que no veia.
James de Londres lleva casi 10 años aqui, nos llevo a un par de fiestas y restaurantes locales geniales que nunca habriamos ido si no fuese por el. Por es la enfermera que tambien conoci hace 9 años a la vez que conoci a James y Stacey una veterinaria de USA que conoci aqui hace 4 años, con ellas y con las demas voluntarias, todas chicas guapas, (noruegas, australianas, inglesas)para mi desgracia ;-), nos pegamos una buena fiesta a base de Sang Som y Singha, whisky y cerveza local. La resaca al dia siguiente era local tambien.
Lo alucinante de viajar, anoche, fuimos con James a una fiesta de despedida, la mayoria extranjeros que viven aqui de todos lados. Habia una chica japonesa que me parecia familiar. Despues de 1 hora y 4 cervezas de repente cuando oi su nombre cai. Increible, ella tambien me reconocio a la vez casi telepaticamente. Mina!!!! Angel!!!! Nos habiamos conocido en Sri Lanka hacia 9 años. Ella estaba viajando con un bebe que es ahora casi 10. Muy fuerte. El mundo es un pañuelo. Hoy vamos de vuelta a Bangkok. Volamos a Hong Kong en Un par de dias. Desearme suerte para las entrevistas.

Ko Tao (Turtle Island)

Koh Tao (Turtle Island) is all completely different from the last time I was here. The main beach area has become a hugely developed shopping and eating complex.  As soon as we arrived though, we hired a moped and went around the island looking for the quieter spots.. and we found some, but why is it that even those eejits who bring wheelie cases to sandy islands end up comfortably gliding from speed boat to ac room, I have to crawl through jungle and climb rocks to find a hut to sleep in? Even with a moped, on this island shaped like the back of a turtle's shell, I usually end up having to hike up and slide down the rocky dirt tracks.. as Angel zooms past on the bike shouting at me to think how hard my thighs will be!

The room we ended up in is right on top of the hill overlooking Tanote Bay. The view is incredible but the place is not actually officially open yet. It's a maze of interlinked pastel blue painted concrete platforms formed around granite boulders. Mmmmmmm!  Think it's not been updated in about 20 years. It's even got a DJ booth and an open air dance floor and the paths through the  jungly bits of garden conceal boxes with hidden speakers.  A Thai brother and sister bought it two months ago from an old stoner called Mama Leila, who unfortunately had to sell it to pay her gambling debts.

It's a little bit like the money pit here. Feel a bit sorry for the new owners.  We only stayed 3 nights and we had problems with the electricity which flickered all the time a la 70s disco, the water went off just as Angel had had a long call and blocked the loo up and again when he was in the shower. The amount of times I had to politely practise my rusty Thai on the balcony, while Angel was trying to hurry up in the bathroom... The upside is that the room is huge and the balcony has an amazing view of the bay in the distance - a great place for our nightly beer before heading out for dinner.

The restaurant isn't up and running yet,  but they let us use their drinks fridge to keep our breakfast in. Since Mumbai, we've been having museli, fresh fruit and yoghurt every morning. We have a huge container of museli which we refill when we find it, and buy coffee yoghurt and fruit in the morning. - One concession to healthy eating and sticking to our budget!

Koh Tao is famous for it's diving. I think it's considered one of the best sites in Asia. The snorkelling is also amazing. We spent a couple of days riding from beach to beach to check out the marine life. Wow! What colours! In the end we decided against going to the full moon on Ko Pa Ngan (literally packed with people) and we're staying a bit longer here. We've both been to full moon a few times before and don't feel like bracing a scrum of at least 30,000! Last time Angel went, he lost his cousin Che, and didn't see him again till the next day. Instead, we had a dinner date with a lovely old couple from Canada! Passing up the opportunity to go to a 'Global Dance Festival' with 30,000 people to eat out with an elderly (albeit very entertaining) couple - I dunno, how things change!;)

Ko Payam, Ranong

We're just coming back from a small island near the little Ko Chang on the west coast just near Burma. It's called Ko Payam and Angel went walking and found an amazing bay with clear green water on the north side of the island AND a hut which opens out onto the sea. It wasn't overlooked at all so you could wander round nude as long as you didn't mind the occasional snorkeller getting an eyeful! Absolutely loved the place - a definite highlight of the trip so far! 

The island itself is a bit busier than Ko Chang but it's still pretty quiet and the beaches are much much nicer. On the north side where we are, they're just idyllic. 

Although we only had three nights on Ko Payam (we could have had longer but we had almost run out of cash and no ATMs anywhere), Angel still managed to make us spend one entire day walking the whole length of the island and back! It was almost 14km in total in the boiling hot sun.. I was so knackered by the time I stopped for a drink of water that I failed to notice a scorpion crawling on my foot. I kicked it off and then a Thai woman took a hammer and bludgeoned it to death, not a very Buddhist thing to do, but I think she was more horrified at the thought of one of her customers being stung by it.

Ko Chang, Ranong

Arrived today on Koh Chang, the smaller one on the west coast. We've travelled alot in Thailand before - I lived here for a year and a half almost ten years ago - so this is one of the islands we've both never been to.

Strange mix of people - mostly German and the vast majority stay long term - months on end. It's a really quiet chilled place - would be amazing to come and spend a couple of months here if you had a thesis to write - just a laptop and a case full if books and you could have the perfect place for writing!  It really seems like one of the last places in Thailand which has not been developed very much yet.

We spent about 10 days here in the end - just reading and relaxing in the hammocks and eating amazing food. We had a few nights out at one of the prearranged parties in a beach bar but mostly it was Angel kicking ma ass every night at darts or cards with a few beers or Cuba Libres. We extended our stay a couple of times coz we were soooo relaxed... But in the end we decided it would be a shame not to check out the neighbouring island, Ko Payam which was supposed to have a younger crowd and a but more nightlife....

Tailandia. Bangkok y las Islas.

Desde el momento que llegamos a Tailandia todo parece tan tranquilo y limpio. Incluso Bangkok y Khao San road que es el sitio donde los mochileros van parece tranquilo y limpio comparado con India. Echaremos de menos la intensidad de vida que hay en India. Es mucho menos turistico que cualquier otro pais. Tienes que sobrevivir como uno mas de ellos cuando viajas alli.
Bangkok esta genial. Hay gente que lo odia pero a mi me encanta. Tiene partes super modernas tipo Tokio con tren monorail, centros comerciales geniales...etc, y partes tradicionales antiguas tan vibrantes como India. La comida si te gusta el picante es sublime. Ensaladas de papaya con nueces, salsas agridulces, todo super fresco con gambas, calamares y pescado, mmmmm!!

Las Islas, Koh Chang y Koh Payam

Simplemente alucinante. Esto es el paraiso. Hemos estado bastantes veces en Tailandia pero nunca habiamos venido a esta parte. Estan en la costa oeste cerca de la frontera con Birmania. Vinimos porque era un sitio nuevo y porque Jonni y Hanne unos amigos finlandeses nos habian dicho que querian venir a encontrarnos de nuevo.
Koh Chan es mas tranquila. Tiene una playa largisima con la mayoria de hoteles y otras mas pequeñas que solo se puede ir en barco o andando en la jungla.
Nos quedamos 10 dias. En el dia, hamaca, leer y comer. A la noche, un par de cerves con el aperitivito,(que son minipescaditos secos con cacahuetes y chile o calamarcitos secos ahumados que venden en bolsitas, suena raro y huele peor pero esta bueno), cena y nuestra botellita de Sang Som que es whisky que sabe a Ron y coloca que no veas. Siempre nos juntabamos con peña para comer o beber, tailandeses, una chica francesa, una pareja alemana que nos aconsejo sobre Filipinas...etc. Volviendo a la comida, la intentamos pedir siempre un poco picante pero acabamos con ojos llorosos y moqueando. Fuimos a este restaurante en el medio de la Isla que nos habian recomendado y con razon tenia fama. La semidueña es una señora austriaca que es la camarera. No le cayo bien Hannah que malentendio cuando pedimos y aunque la cena fue la mejor que hemos comido la tia borde creo que a proposito pidio super picante. Nos saltaban lagrimones con cada bocado de gamba o de arroz. Parecia un funeral mas que una cena. Los tailandeses nos miraban y se reian pensando que poco aguantamos. Aun asi nos encanta, es medio masoquismo y amor a la comida.
Estamos en Koh Payam solo 3-4 dias. Las Islas Estan juntas y son muy poco desarrolladas sin cajeros ni carreteras ni nada. No trajimos sufficiente dinero y estamos comiendo mas arroz que nunca. Pedimos Un plato de lo que sea y 3 raciones de arroz. Deben creer que tenemos la solitaria y que somos puas tambien, compartimos una coca cola para comer y una cerveza para cenar y nos llenamos con el arroz, jaja. Estoy exagerando un poco. No estamos tan mal, pero tenemos poca pasta y tenemos que cortarnos mas.
Cuando no exagero es cuando digo que estamos en la playa y cabaña mas alucinantemente bonita que jamas he estado. Esta dentro del agua. No hacen falta gafas de bucear para ver el fondo y los peces. Idilico, es todo lo que puedo decir. Mañana nos vamos. Vamos para Koh PaNgan, otra Isla mas al sur para currar en una ONG donde ya curre y para disfrutar un poco de la fiesta que es famosa en la isla. La full moon party o fiesta de la Luna llena.

Back in Thailand!

Yeaaaahhhh!!! In Bangkok and it's crazier and busier than ever! So vibrant though! Just been for a foot massage with reflexology. I'd been feeling a but dodgy all day after no sleep and a change of temperature so thought it'd sort me out- and only about £1.50 for half an hour!

Angel of course went into depth describing to his woman how he'd been having a few problems with his left metatarsal after twisting his foot, so she looked like she was really professional, closing her eyes and 'feeling' out the tension in his foot. At one point I even thought he might get a 'happy ending' ha ha! But actually, the poor Thai woman, exhausted from giving massages all day actually fell asleep mid-massage and Angel had to cough loudly to get her back on the job;) Leaving already tomorrow for the islands but loooooovin Bangkok!!!!!

Mumbai

G
Last stop before we leave India and fly to Thailand.. is Mumbai - previously known as Bombay - and it's not only the CITY'S name which was changed, but so just about every famous monument around - really trying their best to get rid of all British association!  Generally you can get away with referring to things as either name.

The first day we arrived and managed to get a dorm bed at the Salvation Army hostel, which is alot better than it sounds. Hotels here are really expensive compared to other places and the hostel seems to be where most of the foreign backpackers stay. We're in single sex dorms with a shared bathroom, but breakfast is included and there is a nice dining hall- type place where everyone congregrates in the morning. It's also only a stone's throw from the most famous hotel in Mumbai, the Taj Mahal and it's near the sea and all the other famous landmarks, where actually alot of people got shot at a few years ago, just after I was here the last time.

The first day we spent walking around the city. It really has some beautiful British colonial architecture in the landmark museums and university buildings. Colava, where we are staying, is all wide leafy avenues lined with colonial mansions. 

We also got asked to be an extra in a tv ad. It's a commercial to advertise McDowell's whiskey to be shown during the cricket world cup - and cricket to the Indians is like the football world cup in the UK. They're mad about it! The ad is starring M.S. Dhoni - captain of the Indian team who's treated like a  Demi-god.

So a bunch of us foreigners were rounded up and herded on a bus at 6 something in the morning and taken to the new stadium on the outskirts of Mumbai. Originally me and a couple of Danish girls were asked to be cheerleaders. We agreed reluctantly as I for one didn't fancy the idea of parading up and down in front of a crowd of Indian men, wearing a miniskirt and pom-poms! 
Anyway apparently they'd changed their minds by the time we all got to makeup and costumes (oh the ficklety of show-biz!) and instead we got chucked some wigs, hats and props. I don't think I got in a single shot in the end. No matter where I was, the camera always seemed to be pointing in another direction.  Angel, on the other hand, even got his own closeup wearing a Dracula cape with no tshirt on, his face painted green and blue and pretending to play a trumpet!! Born a star! We got paid 500 baht (less than a pound an hour) and got home 10 hours later - sunburnt from sitting in the stands all day, heads ringing from the constant yelled orders (in Hindi) and all of us determined to invest our wages in a few cold beers! 
  

Mumbay y Delhi

Mumbai
Ya habia estado unas cuantas veces en Mumbai pero nunca habiamos hecho lo tipico para turistas que es ir de extra a una de las peliculas de Bollywood. Esta vez tocaba. Hannah queria salir de extra y me hizo planearlo para que estuviesemos 5 dias en Bombay. Nos quedamos en un hostal famoso con mochileros llamado Savation Army. Es famoso porque es barato no por nada mas. Dormitorios con literas y olor a pies. Eso si, se conoce a mogollon de gente de todo lado. Por esa razon, (la de la gente de todo lado, no la del olor a pies), los agentes de Bollywood van directamente a buscar occidentales para sus pelis. Y ahi es donde nos encontraron. Era para un anuncio del mundial de cricket que empieza este mes en India. Eramos como 30 turistas y otros tantos indios. Nos llevaron al estadio teniamos que animar como si fuera un partido. Si habeis visto cricket es el deporte mas lento y aburrido del mundo. Aun asi, nos pintaron las caras con los colores nacionales nos dieron pelucas, gorros...etc. A mi especificamente me pidieron que me quitase la camiseta y me dieron una capa de Dracula. Que pinta Dracula en un partido de cricket en India? En fin, me sacaron en un primer plano tocando una trompeta. Ya pasare el vinculo de YouTube cuando lo pongan. A Hannah le pidieron que se remangara la camiseta y que enseñase ombligo, jaja. Eso nunca lo haria una chica india. Por eso llevan turistas. A ella, a pesar de enseñar ombligo no la sacaron y no estaba muy contenta. Nos tuvieron alli como 10 horas.
El final del viaje en India termino en Delhi. Pasamos poco tiempo esta vez en Delhi. Hacia frio, lo que fue una sorpresa especialmente despues de regalar y tirar todas las mangas largas. La pobre Hannah, que perdio sus zapatillas de trekking, iba en chancletas con calcetines, yo alejado de ella un par de metros, jeje.
Bueno, vamos para Tailandia. Con muchas ganas del cambio y listos para mas aventuras.

Sur de India. Kerala y Tamil Nadu

Aun en Kerala.
Del Ashram de Amma fuimos a Munnar, conocido por las plantaciones de te y parques naturales. Esta en la frontera con el estado de Tamil Nadu. Pillamos una moto de alquiler, no habia conducido desde que vendimos la moto hacia un mes. La zona de montaña de Munnar es preciosa, super verde con terrazas gigantescas hechas por el hombre donde plantan el te.
La moto resulto no ser la mejor idea. Fue bonito por 1 hora pero de los 150 km de ruta que teniamos pensado hicimos apenas 30. Cuando subimos mas alto hacia un frio de la leche, niebla, frio y humedo. Total que dimos media vuelta y al dia siguiente nos piramos. La vista desde el bus cruzando las montañas espectacular.
Madurai
Tomamos un par de buses cambiando en pueblecitos de montaña hasta llegar a Madurai. Una ciudad importante por Los tempos. Hannah diria que es tambien por lo ruidoso que es el ambiente en general. No se si se lo invento, pero dijo que al parecer el pito de los coches, motos, furgonetas...etc es mas alto en decibelios. Quien sabe! El caso que como son todo callejuelas para llegar al gran templo, que es impresionante, el ruido se hace mas intenso. Nos tuvimos que comprar tapones para los oidos para no estar de mala leche de lo irritante que era. El sitio, siendo un centro religioso importante estaba lleno de peregrinos que adoran al Dios Shiva y su esposa Menakshi. Muy bonito pero demasiada genre.
Mamallapuran
Este era el ultimo sitio antes de empezar la vuelta de Delhi para volar a Tailandia. Esta muy cerca de Chennai, la capital del estado.
Pensamos que estaria guay un pueblecito de pescadores con playita y como no, famosos templos que lo hacen mas famoso y lleno de turistas Indios que con lo sucios que son dejan los sitios donde van hecho un vertedero. Estuvimos como 4 dias. De playa ni menciono porque estaba llena de basura. Los pescadores cagan en la playa, basura, vacas, redes y restos del pescado que no quieren para que se lo coman los cuervos. Lo mejor fue la guest house, y que nos re-encontramos con Jonny y Hanne, unos colegas finlandeses que conocimos en Gokarna y que van para Tailandia tambien . Teniamos un trozito de terraza fuera con nuestra mesita donde pasamos parte del dia de relax leyendo, jugando a las cartas etc. Hizimos una escapada a Pondicherry que era un par de horas de bus desde alli. Es una ex-colonia francesa con arquitectura europea en el centro y que pensabamos que iba a tener croissants, baguettes y pate etc. Una desilusion, nos volvimos sin catarlo. Era todo comida india a parte de un par de restaurantes de lujo que costaban un ojo de la cara.
Chennai
Es la capital y apenas la conocimos. Fuimos a pasar el dia y pillar el tren para Mumbai solo. Grande, mucha gente y algunos edificios coloniales chulos, poco mas.

Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu

We arrived in Mamallapuram not really expecting much.. and it was a good job. I think it must have been a really nice place maybe about 10-15 years ago - a small fishing village on quite a long beach. As it's not too far from Pondicherri which was the capital of French India,  alot of tourists come here including a large amount of French, but  curiously the tourists are much older than you see in other places - mostly wrinkly hippies that I suppose must have been coming here for years. I really want to find out.. The reason I'm puzzled about why all these people come here is that it's a bit of a hole. I mean OK it has supposedly the most photographed temple in India - though 250 rupees to get in is alot for us so we managed to get a nice pic from over the fence - but apart from that, the beach is full of rubbish, smells like a sewer (apparently the fisherman refuse to stop using it as their toilet) and is jam packed full of tourist shops trying to find the most original soundbite to entice you into their shop, such as 'hello, would you like to waste your time in my shop?' It would be nice if you were free to just have a wander around the shops hassle-free, but unfortunately it's not like that in India. Actually, having said that, we did find a supermarket! First one I've found in India - though it is called 'Something Special? Try Again'.

 I hate to admit it, but there are definitely some things I'm getting fed up with in India. A couple of Finnish friends, Joni and Hanne, that we hung out with alot on - yes you've guessed it - Om Beach a few weeks ago - just happened to be staying in our guest house but they were leaving the day after we arrived. They were flying to Singapore and we were a teensy bit jealous that weren't also moving on. We've been here for exactly four months yesterday, and it's my fourth time in India and I think Angel's seventh - so we do love India, but there's only so much you can take I think.

A few people so far have said that they wish they'd stayed longer in the west side and maybe just not bothered with Tamil Nadu on the East side, and I'm inclined to agree.

One more thing that Joni said, was that he thought there were more mosquitoes here than anywhere else in India. That seems to have induced some kind of mozzie paranoia in Angel. Usually I am his repellent, because they flock to my sweet flesh and leave him smug and bite-free, but since he was bitten a couple of times here, he's on a mozzie-killing rampage! Everytime he swats one, he says 'well that's one less to worry about!'. He even woke me up last night by swatting one on my leg!

Tomorrow we're going to take a day trip 3 hours each way on a local bus to Pondicherri to see the French quarter and my priority is to hopefully get some nice croissants and baguettes! - That is, if I've recovered by then.. I was a bit ill again today, but think I caught it in time with the magic yellow pills that Angel prescribes me - travelling with a medical expert definitely has it's uses.. though I'm not sure if my doctor back home would have recommended me to eat chilli beef and egg fried rice for dinner - that Angel ordered in a street dhaba and made me help him with!

Looking forward to Thailand now.. looove the food there! So many people we've met along the way are also headed there in the next month or so, so we might bump into a few of them along the way.  

Madurai, Tamil Nadu

We arrived in Madurai after taking a couple of government buses from .. It was a city like many others in India, sprawling, dirty and noisy but this one was nit just noisy, it was deafening- horns beeping everywhere were so loud that they actually hurt the ears! We weren't sure whether we'd become too used to the quiet at the ashram or whether it really was much louder than usual, but actually someone told us later that they had thought exactly the same and that Madurai seemed not to adhere to the normal rules of decibels!

We had planned to spend two nights in the city and our train wasn't until after ten on the third night, but it seemed like much too long once we realized that the only famous thing about Madurai was its temple. We visited the temple the first day, and it was pretty impressive. We were trying to feel the good vibes of the place until that is, we got into a fight with a guy on the door of the temple museum. He started yelling at us (and I mean yelling) because we had bought a ticket only for the museum and not for the temple, even though they were separate, so Angel yelled back but it didn't help him to let us in. Shanty shanty man! Sometimes people get really wound up if you don't follow the rules to the letter here. - It happened somewhere before that the person on the desk sold us the ticket but then we were yelled out later on... So to calm down, we found the meditation hall and did a bit of positive thinking to help dispel the shock.

The best thing about Madurai was probably the Gandhi museum which was very well put together, even though there was ALOT of reading involved! It told the whole story of colonization by the British and the Indian resistance later led by Gandhi. It even had Gandhi's bloody dhoti that he was wearing when he shuffled off his mortal coil!

I think that was it for our cultural journey in Madurai but we did find out via Facebook that Kristina and Karl (German friends from Gokarna) were staying in an ashram about 45 mins out of the city, so, on the last day, we took a local bus out into the countryside to visit them.
They were staying in a Sivananda ashram which was all small structures with palm leaf rooves and far prettier and more tranquil than the ashram we stayed at.  They'd been there for two weeks and they'd just happened to skive off a lecture when we showed up and surprised them. They left Gokarna to go to an  interview fior a volunteer job, the day we arrived but really regretted it when they ended up in a cold place with no real restaurants at Christmas. we missed them at our Christmas parties on the beach but it was really nice to catch up again at the ashram.

Next stop the beach at Mamallapuram...

Amma's ashram, Kerala

We've spent the last week or so at Amma's ashram between the backwaters of Kerala and the sea.  She's known (by people all over the world, surprisingly) as a guru who comforts people through the power of the hug! - Very unusual in India - where physical contact is not common except between men, that is!  She is literally treated like a God and people pray to her.. there are pictures of her everywhere.  You can even buy an Amma doll - in case you need a hug when she's not around.. I saw a woman walk past yesterday holding a huge doll and talking to it! - Yeah there's more than a few strange characters here that you see around from time to time. There is a guy that appears around corners or under trees who goes walking past playing a guitar or a flute like the one out of 'There's something about Mary' and always wearing only one flipflop... Or a little French girl who comes and hugs me and says 'Je t'aime' then sticks her tongue out or pushes me violently. We just gave the dog a blood test and more antibiotics and changed his drip and when we went to the ashram hospital to dispose of the sringes etc we asked a guy for directions and he just pointed to a little sign around his neck that said 'silence' - just like in the movie Eat sleep pray.  Also, just seen an English Indian boy with a perfect RP accent playing with a white Indian boy with an Indian accent who yesterday was correcting my Hindi.

It's a huge compound with pink skyscapers - well more like the type of blocks of flats you'd find in Birmingham, but in pink. In contrast, everyone wears white and although the focus is yoga and meditation, 'Amma's Way' is a middle way - basically meaning that she doesn't go in for the usual 'Vipasana' which is the really strict silent retreat where you spent 8 hours a day meditating without instruction. Amma's place is more
chilled. You can choose which classes to do. There's a swimming pool, internet cafe and even a cinema, but swimming sessions are separate for men and women.

You are also 'invited' to do seva, which is voluntary service around the ashram for one or two hours a day. When we signed up, all that was left was, for Angel to be a bin man (sorry, recyling technician) and me doing dish washing in the western kitchen. Woohoo! I managed to swap it for painting the children's library after a couple of days but our seva all changed (much to Angel's joy), when we spotted one of the cook's dogs was lying on a table in the garden surrounded by. a crowd of Indian and western nuns dressed in white.. We went to investigate and it seemed that Apu the dog had eaten some rat poison. Angel burst into action to the delight of the nuns who upon discovering that his name was Angel, in unison let out a shriek of celestial delight and then an American woman clasped her hands in joy and announced that he really was Apu's angel sent by Amma! After that, every spare moment was spent checking Apu's drip, giving him various drugs, checking on his toilet visits etc. I hope this means that I can now put veterinary assistant down on my CV! - I left the cleaning up of any poo or puke to Angel though - after all, he was the one sent by Amma to 'bring poor Apu back to life'! ;)

Amma is often away on tour, but she arrived back two days after we did so we thought we may as well stay for 'the hug'.. After a few days here we've kind of realised that there are definitely more than the usual share of nutters here! People have been obsessing about Amma coming back and when greeting each other, they ask 'how long have you been with Amma'?

Angel has finally got 'the hug', though it seems it was less a life changing experience than a hug from a friendly huggable Indian woman. I didn't bother queuing as I was determined to stay to do the meditation course the following week and Angel wasn't sure if he was going to. I got one later with Angel again when we were pushed up to the very front of a ten hour long queue or devotees - just because we were the offical veterinary team ;)  Hug was ok...


We left the ashram yesterday and it was great to be on 'the outside' again -back in India! The ashram overall was a really good experience and the first time I'd done anything like that. Now I feel like I could go to any temple or ashram and feel more a part of it rather than just a random tourist. Actually this morning we woke up early in Munar and we could hear the singing from the temple nearby and we were even thinking about going over and doing some meditation. In the end the bed was too warm and comfy! Freezing outside! Think two days will be enough of this weather - get me back to the heat!;)

Experiencia Espiritual en el Ashram de Amma. Kerala

Llevamos unos dias en un Ashram en el sur de Kerala. Es el ashram de Amma, una lider espiritual o guru que es muy famosa por toda la obra social que ha hecho y tambien por dar abrazos como consuelo a quien lo necesita. Estamos haciendo algo de meditacion y de yoga, que realmente es saludable. Ayudamos dos horas al dia en un trabajo voluntario, a mi me ha tocado ''basurero''. Nos dieron un cuarto como pareja, el resto vive en dormitorios. Hay dos cantinas, la india es gratis, o incluida en la habitacion, la occidental es super barata pero simple. El sitio es super grande, edificios super gigantes con mogollon de habitaciones, templo, carpa de actividades y una playa privada. Hoy llega Amma y ha venido mogollon de gente con ella que estaban de tour.
Esta en un sitio muy bonito, se llama Amritapuri con el mar a un lado y los lagos por detras con palmeras y demas. Vale que aun siendo esceptico como lo soy la experiencia es enriquecedora, meditacion y yoga es algo genial.
La mayoria de los seguidores de Amma son generalmente europeos o americanos de edades desde 35 a 60. Se visten de blanco entero, van de super espirituales juzgando a quien lleva menos tiempo o no viste de blanco...etc. Las conversaciones son de flipaos la verdad, no metafisica o espiritual que podria ser interesante sino de verborrea y charlataneo en la mayoria de los casos. Ademas, la mayoria ni sonrien ni son amigables.  Hay gente maja que no va a los extremos, mas en el mundo real, son con los que nos juntamos. De ellos puede uno aprender algo, del resto, camisa de fuerza, el uniforme blanco ya lo llevan.
Yo me iba a ir el Lunes despues de mi abrazo. Hannah queria quedarse unos dias mas para hacer unos cursos y me ha convencido, Vamos a hacer un curso de meditacion de tres dias. Espero que no nos transformemos en uno mas de la secta.

Algo paso en estos dias en el Ashram que lo cuento ahora que hemos terminado. De camino a la playa vimos gente alrededor de un perro que estaba muy malo. Me ofreci para ayudar y eso cambio la experiencia. He estado tratando al perro de Amma, un Labrador llamado Apoo y todas las monjas e incluso la lider espiritual estan agradecidas y no paran de venir a verme y hablar conmigo y Hannah cuando lo estoy tratando. Nos ha servido para conocer a gente y tener una experiencia que no habriamos tenido de otra manera. Nos colaron en frente de cientos de seguidores para ver y recibir el famoso darsham o abrazo de Amma y nos hicieron sitio para sentarnos a su lado en el escenario con los VIP. Con todo la experiencia ha sido buena, enriquecedora pero con los pies en la tierra.
No he puesto apenas fotos del ashram o Amma porque no estaba permitido el uso de camaras dentro del mismo.

Gokarna en Navidades

Estamos de vacaciones dentro de la grande vacacion. No viajes de 15 horas en bus, no regateos para conseguir el precio justo de la habitacion, del taxi motocarro o de la comida, nada de eso, solo relax y pasarlo bien. Creo que en total estaremos un mes aqui en Gokarna, Om beach. Este sitio es alucinante, hay 4 playas en Gokarna. Todas estan genial pero Om beach es la que mejor ambiente tiene. Tenemos una casita de bambu con una mosquitera cubriendo la cama, una bombilla y un enchufe para recargar pilas y los iPods. Hamacas fuera de la casita y el mar a unos 10 metros. El suelo de la habitacion es parte de la playa, es de arena fina, hemos puesto alfombrillas en el suelo para mantenerlo libre de arena, velas y pareos gigantes cubriendo el techo de bambu que hacen la casita mas hogareña dentro de lo que cabe. Total que estamos encantados. Hay como 10 restaurantes en la playa pero siempre vamos al mismo. Conocimos peña viajando en Hampi y en otros lados que han venido aqui para pasar las Navidades en plan reunion. Todos se quedan en Om beach y al final to Dios se conoce. Esta genial porque vamos a la playa y nos sentamos con unos o con otros, luego llega mas peña y se junta. Para comer y cenar es lo mismo, siempre grupos grandes que crecen y termina siendo una fiesta. Gente de todas nacionalidades, eso es lo que mas me gusta. Es como irse de cañas, pero todo el dia desde la mañana hasta la noche. En Nochebuena nos juntamos 31 personas a cenar. Pedimos una cena especial y decoramos las mesas etc. Fue una mezcla de menu, decoracion, bailes, brindis y costumbres de los 10 paises o mas que juntabamos. Nos lo pasamos como enanos, posiblemente ayudo el ponche de Ron que hicimos, como unos 30 litros. Al final acabamos en la playa, con una hoguera y fuegos artificiales chinos que compramos en el pueblo. La verdad cada dia y noche es una version simple de la Nochebuena, cenando con peña, bebiendo ron o cerveza y juntandonos en hogueras a la noche. 

Feliz Año Nuevo, Feliz 2011!!!!!!
Me acabo de levantar y tengo un poco de resaca. Fue una noche alucinante, de nuevo playita de tranqui durante el dia, y luego cenita en grupo grande y ron con cola hasta las 5 de la mañana. Casi de milagro pudimos celebrarla, habian puesto elecciones el 31, y no solo eso, prohibicion de alcohol dos dias por las elecciones, a quien se le ocurre? Por supuesto a los indios, simplemente no tienen sentido comun. Pero bueno, al final salio bien la cosa, compramos 5 botellas pequeñas de ron por si acaso paraban de vender si la policia se pasaba por la playa, un chico en frente de mi pillo 12, nos sobro alcohol la verdad, hoy no me encuentro muy bien pero valio la pena. Va a ser dificil empezar a viajar de nuevo, mochilas, buses, ciudades y pueblos con mogollon de gente, trafico, basura etc pero pintorescos e interesantes. De aqui vamos a Munar, en el interior de Kerala. Vamos a intentar hacer un poco de yoga y meditacion, detoxificar y aprender algo nuevo y mas saludable aprovechando que estamos en India.